What Would YOU Do in this Situation?
I received the email below from a reader and thought that all of you could offer her some great advice and encouragement!
[h2s_box]Hello Collin,
I’m reaching out to you because I am really concerned and angry with my area Walgreens, Walmart, and other stores in general. I don’t know if it is because I live in a highly touristy area or just because extreme couponing in Fort Lauderdale, FL is a bit hard… especially at Walgreens! Where do I begin??
First of all, I’m a paralegal and I have a deep experience on policy analyst. I’m mentioning this because I want you to know that I understand Walgreens policy completely, but the cashiers & managers (assistant manager in general) are so ignorant when it comes to the coupon policy of the store! It doesn’t matter how many times I explain it to them and show them their own coupon policy, they refuse to do it.
At first I thought maybe it was my attitude, so I approached in a more friendly way, but I realized it’s not. I used to enjoy extreme couponing and it was a stress reliever, but now I get really stressed just by walking into the store knowing that I have to deal with them. At the end they always end up saying ” I won’t accept this coupon because it is not going through” or ” I don’t want to lose my job” or ” typing the coupon manually is illegal”. HOW DO YOU WIN THE WHO IS RIGHT BATTLE ON COUPON POLICIES?[/h2s_box]
What would YOU do in this situation?
I have had to call corp office on a couple different stores before due to some cashiers and sometimes managers that are clueless about coupons and store policy, this actually has fixed the problem majority of the time. I still sometimes have issues here and there but always know if management can not address the issue correctly I will fall back to calling the corp office.
The Walgreens Corporation has a very unprofessional staff as well as ignorant when it comes to their policies. I have written to several head managers but to no avail. Finally I had enough and I contacted my local news station. They not only did a full scale report on the stress and hassle endured if your a coupon user, but the local newspaper also covered this story. So for the surrounding Walgreens stores here in Connecticut, they issued a press released apology and have since been cooperative with their policies. As a mother of two I work hard for my money and I will save it wherever I can. I hope you choose to enlist some local help as well. There is nothing less appreciated than bad publicity, especially in a highly traveled location.
I have had some bad experiences at Walgreen’s but I stopped last week to use a coupon on the day it expired and they were out of stock. I explained that I had a rain check and had been checking back for 2 weeks but they hadn’t restocked the shelf. The manager on duty took my name & said she will call when it comes in and she wrote on my coupons that they need to be accepted when I use the rain check – now the question is if this will actually work when I go to try and purchase it!!!!!
I never cupon at walgreens and Kroger either, at walgreens I know the cashiers and managers but, haven’t shop there with cupons I do better cvs, walmart sometimes , and other stores. Kroger, they have this nasty cashier that treats people customers with cupons like a disease mean and rude, and when u asked for a manager ,manager acts like she runs the store he agrees with her and – even if cupon is correct / had a cupon for free item and she said this a copy cupon it was mailed to me. So avoid Kroger now , when corporate calls manager said / he doesn’t know what really happen – cvs better
Yes that’s true I have a similar experience with the purex detergent a couple weeks ago when they have it at $1.88; I bought 6 but them ring at $2.99, I told the cashier that the price was $1.88 and it was display in the shelfs, even the sale insert have on it so she call the manager and she refused to give me that price and I was like what!! Then I said that I was going to return them but he said that I can’t because I use coupons.
I coupon in miami area also and my suggestion for her is to try some other walgreens stores! I have 8 different walgreens stores within a 3 mile radius of my house and the closest one is not couponing friendly AT ALL! But I shop around now and have great experiences with management and cashiers and I get AWESOME deals! Just last week I got well over 100 dollars worth of dove haircare for free plus made money on it… it was definitely worth making a couple different stops and also worth finding couponing friendly walgreens stores. My experience now is that as an extreme couponer there will just always be those once in a while times wwhereyou have a horrible experience.
This happened to me at dollar general. I followed up w district manager. He apologized and I got a gift card
Do you have any other option other than Walgreens? My CVS is wonderful but I’ve had nothing but bad luck with Walgreens. I know some people have good luck there but that doesn’t seem to be the case with East Coast Walgreens. Maybe it’s a district attitude or something; maybe they’ve been burned with bad coupons; I don’t know. I’ve thrown my hands up and just refuse to shop there. The occasional great deal I could get there and not at CVS is just not worth the stress and hassle!
i go to cvs instead of walgreens they are super coupon friendly!
The CVS by me is super unfriendly with couponers. I avoid going there.
I had to shop around awhile to find stores that are coupon friendly. I definitely agree with others that you should report your experiences to corporate but try other stores. With Walmart I’ve found it depends on the cashier 90 percent of the time. I scan the cashiers and find one I know will follow the policy. When I worked at target corporate office would actually send emails from websites like this or fatwallet warning cashiers of free product coupons and would advise how many per transaction were allowed etc. All in all I would keep searching for a store or cashier that works with you. This is the reason I don’t do walgreens anymore tho
I refuse to shop at Walgreens…not worth it. We have 5 CVS in our town and I love every one of them. They all have staff who will bend over backwards to help you.
I live in VA and I have also had problems with my local walgreens and Walmart. When the razor coupons came out a couple months ago making the razors a money maker I had no help from either Walmart I went to. I would have two managers in front of me saying no or making up the fact that limit one coupon per item meant I could only get one item, but it wasn’t until one girl who was a lower manager walked up and said yes that I could use that “how did they not know that,” ” didn’t they read their policy?”
I finally had to always find that woman or I would get all kinds of lies about how the coupon can only be used for what is pictured or that they wouldn’t give me cash back.
And at my local walgreens the manager didn’t know you could use coupons on free items so I had to show her the policy to which she replied “oh when did we start doing that?”
On the Walmart issue I should have called or emailed corporate but it didn’t change anything when I did call targets corporate so I just let it go. But I won’t be doing that any more. From now in I will be informing all of my local stores headquarters what kind of employees they had and how rude they are to their coupon customers. If we don’t say anything then they will continue to be rude to us and that isn’t fair when we are not doing anything illegal or committing coupon fraud as I was told by one rude target employee.
Also like I said my target is bad an I hardly ever want to go there but also my cvs ad rite aid aren’t very good, just the other day they wouldn’t give me rain checks at cvs for the all detergents because they swapped it out with another more expensive detergent to make buy one get two free. I would rather go to walgreens then to them but I guess it all depends on your area because nothing around me has the best customer service (Kmart, Walmart, Kroger, Harris teeter, etc)
I have had the same issues not only with the cashiers but also with Managers who do not know the coupon policy. They try to find any little loophole they can to not accept the coupon.. I live in Miami and I also have to deal with the language barrier… They always seem to be out of stock of sale items. I have stopped shopping there also
The only issues I have ever had is couponing at walgreens. It seems to be the entire Houston area. I’ve written corporate but nothing changed, I just cut them off my list of stores. Stores can learn alot from CVS and Target. I never have issues there. I’ll make an effort to drive further to CVS so I can avoid walgreens.
well i have the story of all stories for walgreens:
i have a walgreens behind my house that i have frequent. cashiers and mangers always gave me a hard time with my coupons. i always matched the size brand product to said coupon. and as usual the register would always beep. (old registers then)
i was literally accused by management of “stealing there stuff” now mind you i pay for all items at the register. i might end up paying nothing, but i’m not stealing a thing.
manager wouldn’t accept my coupons and one day he and i had it out. in a civil manner on my end. he banned me for life from the store. so for 2 yrs. i had to drive further away to another walgreens.
then one day i was talking to a friend of mine how is an attorney, explaining my walgreens situation, and he tells me they cant do that (kick me out), and it slander to accuse someone of stealing if they are not.
so it got me thinking, why should i have to go out of my way, when i have a walgreens a few ft. away. being italian, i don’t let things slide so easily. so i call corporate and this time i request that a DISTRICT MANAGER call me personally. a few days later i get to talk to him, and he was in disbelief. he proceeds to tell me that the manager had no LEGAL right to kick me out of the store. he also tells me, what is wrong with this store, we get reimbursed for all these coupons. he ended the conversation that he would take care of it and that i am welcomed back and that from now on i will not be harassed ever again, and my shopping experience will be a pleasant one. plus he gave me a gift card for the yrs. that i missed shopping at walgreens by my home.
well it been 2 yrs. now, and it’s been a pleasure. i understand from the long time cashiers that the district manager went on the warpath with all the employees and all of the managers and said. ” take her coupons with no questions asked”
after 6 yrs of being harassed and accused, it has been a pleasure. sometimes they have to manually imput my coupons and they do it with a smile.
i’ve been couponing now for 40 yrs. i’m no newbie. i’m not extreme either, i don’t wipe out the shelves and i only have 4 coupons at the most per 4 items. x what i’m buying.
yes when i walk into a walgreens, my bill will be for $65.00 and after coupons only i’ll end of spending $2.00 or less. most of the items i get i give to my homeless shelter.
toothpaste/deodorant/shampoo etc. i’m only one person here. how much stuff can one person consume? not much. i’m very good at what i do. i have people in line amazed at my final total at target or walgreens or even krogers. they say they can’t be bothered and i tell them i spend less than 1 hr. a week on it and get 5,000 worth of stuff for free a year. you should see their expressions on their faces then…
never have i ever walked out not getting my savings anywhere. i stick to my guns. target also was a problem for me as cashiers wouldn’t except my stacked coupons. i made sure that i call a manager and have them take them. never do i scream, or raise my voice. i’m firm.
recently i went to targets because i had coupons for $1.00 ponds toweletts. now i read the coupon and nowhere did it say “not good on trial size. so at target i head for the trial size section and get 2 of them. i had 2 coupons. i had a sense the cashier would give me a hard time and sure enough she says to me, this coupon is not good on trial sizes. i said to her where does it say it’s not good on trial sizes. (it didn’t) so now she shuts the light and in comes a floor manager, she starts to give me a hard time too. so i say to them CAN YOU READ? and the manager says take them.
now mind you this took 20 minutes and i only bought 6 items.
so if you have any problems with any store:
i suggest when you call corporate, ask for the district manager to call you back, the district manager is above all store managers and they have more pull power.
this is my story and i’m sticking to it… have a good all… 🙂
No amount of savings is worth the aggravation.
Boycott Walgreens! Their customer service is terrible and they always make you feel like an idiot for using coupons! And of course the next person can buy overpriced groceries with food stamps with no hassle, but that’s another whole issue! Think if enough couponers boycott they will change their attitude, unless they just enjoy losing all their customers to CVS!
What do you mean by extreme couponing? Do you go in expecting to clear the shelves of 100 toothbrushes. I thought that show was fake and most stores I have seen have limits of up to 4 on sale items.
I had a terrible experience at Walmart the other day. It was awful and almost brought me to tears. They always say you can use the power of price matching-SURE! Whatever!! I went in as usual with my ads in hand and coupons. I wasn’t there to buy up a bunch of items just some shampoo, soap, and cereal. Oh my gosh! You would think I was robbing them blind. I got the worst attitude and they had me pull stuff from my bag. The cash register lady was so mad because I was using coupons with price matching she had to stop and go get the manager. The manager was absolutely no help at all. She also made me pull out items from my bag and check each of the ads before she would accept a coupon for the price match. After about 20 or so minutes I was ready to just leave all my junk and run from that store. I felt humiliated and wanted to cry from frustration. I have decided to write a letter to corporate in hopes that they will shine some light on this nonsense. it was a terrible experience and left a really sour taste in my mouth. i don’t think I will shop at this Walmart anymore ever again….! I am done.
Advise to my fellow Target couponers, always use the youngest cashier @ checkout. Just try it it has work wonders for me *)
I agree with you there, but I would add to use the youngest male cashier at checkout. They give me the least hassle.
I always cashier profile – young males = the best.
I agree 100% about the young male cashiers. I have had trouble in the past with a young lady actually yelling at me that “one per purchase” was the same thing as “one per transaction”. (Her yelling caused the mgr. to come over and when I explained the situation, the mgr. told her that she was in fact, wrong and was to apologize to me right then and there in front of everyone) The young men don’t really care….
I just moved from Oklahoma to Texas and I will say that Oklahoma Walgreen’s was more coupon friendly. The problem I have is items ring up regular price instead of sale price or points aren’t given when they should be. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to ask for my points. I really hate the point system, loved shopping at Walgreen’s when it was just register rewards without points. CVS is so much easier without all the point hassle and having to use the right number of coupons, etc..
I have problems with Walgreens all the time. None of the managers or cashiers know their monthly deals. If you buy 2 John Frieda Hair color boxes, you get 5000 BRP. The manager was ignorant and didn’t know this even though I showed her on my receipt that it gave me the points. There was a problem because the cashier incorrectly rang me up for 9 boxes instead of 10. I was supposed to get 25000 points for 10 boxes. I asked her to fix it, and she said she couldn’t fix it. Morons. They said because it was on clearance, I wouldn’t get points, even though I had gotten 20,000 for 8 of the boxes. I did a return on one of the boxes, and got the heck out of there.
I usually go to CVS or Target to avoid the coupon hassles.
I do not shop at Walgreens because of this reason – I hate them and their rude cashiers.
i have one thing to say…. fillers. wth??? whoever decided to do this at wags doesn’t coupon or they would know how annoying this truly is!
I usually try and stick with the cosmetic cashiers, they are willing to help a lot more because they have competitions on sales and it helps boost theirs. I have actually made friends with one of my cashiers and we’ll just chat the whole time I’m checking out (she also makes fun of me when I screw up my math or try to stack the wrong coupons :p) Sometimes I have found that confronting their “attitudes” logically that works as well. EX: “Let’s take a step back here and breathe for a second. Coupons are legal and I am completely within my rights and the guidelines of the coupons and the store policy. Also, this store is paid between $0.08 and $0.10 for each coupon on top of the face value of the coupon so they are making money for accepting my coupons. There is no need to be rude or give me attitude. You and I can get through this very quickly and I can be on my way and without ruining each others day.”
I stop going to Walgreens because they are so coupon UNFRIENDLY, doesn’t follow their coupon policy and some staff are so arrogant & look down on couponers. My nearest Walmart is even worse, there was a Energizer batteries deal awhile back then, I was about to purchase 3 or 4 packs and the manager told me I could only use one coupon per purchase, I was like what??? That manager has her own rule & regulation, ridiculous. I wrote in their customer service but never ever got any reply. What I suggest is, drive a couple of miles further to other Walgreens, Walmart stores just so to make your day better!
i also had emailed corportate on various occasions on my bad couponing experiences with them, and I NEVER got one response back. I have completely cut off Walmart altogether. I only shop CVS and Target now. They take customer satisfaction more seriously.
What I would do is call the corporate office while at the store and see what they say if allowed and if I am right I would hand the phone to the manager and have corporate explain it to him/her so they better understand the policy
I made this last night and it was delicious! I used almond milk instead of soy and I used zucchini noodles instead of ramen.
I love love love miso soup so it’s nice to have another way to make it!